Lucky Penny
by broadwaypants
Summary: We all make mistakes and tell little white lies once in a while, right? Well, one of those is about to catch up with Princeton...


_Oh goodness, it's about time I wrote an Avenue Q fic! I have been toying with this idea for a good year now and finally wrote it down. Hopefully I pulled it off..._

_Disclaimer: Sorry, I'm wearing underwear and I don't wish I could go back to college. I guess that means I own nothing._

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"Kate, that was amazing," Princeton told the monster he was sitting next to. He could feel his cheeks burning and he avoided looking directly at her. He was beginning to worry that what he had done might have messed up whatever friendship – or otherwise – they had. He cared about Kate very much, and if she regretted anything they had done…

"You're amazing," Kate corrected him, making him chuckle. He let out the breath he had not realized he was holding and looked at her with wide eyes. He wanted to show her how much she meant to him, to give her something that was more significant than a box of chocolates or a bouquet of half-wilted roses.

"I want you to have this," he found himself saying, remembering his lucky penny. "It's a penny I carry around with me for good luck." He passed the shiny coin to Kate, remembering how grimy it had been the day he found it on the street. Princeton had polished it obsessively, as if by doing so he could ensure that he would have a bright future.

Kate took the coin and looked at it for a moment, before looking back up at Princeton, eyes wide with gratitude. "It's from the year I was born, see?" Princeton pointed this out to Kate, wanting her to understand why this penny was significant, why it was special. Why she was special to him.

"Who know?" Princeton wondered aloud. "Maybe it'll bring–"

"Hold on a second!" Kate interrupted, looking at Princeton with her eyebrows narrowed. He jumped, shocked to see her looking so angry. Had he said something wrong? Did she think he was being cheap by only giving her a penny? He tried to calculate how much spare change he had in his pockets, wondering if it was enough to take her out to eat someplace… McDonalds maybe.

"You told me this penny is from the year you were born," Kate shoved the coin back into Princeton's hand. "Well, either you don't know very much about yourself, or that's a lie."

"What do you mean?" Princeton looked at the coin, confused.

"You told me that you are twenty-two," Kate informed him, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "Well, if the year on this penny is correct, then you are really twenty-three."

"Well…" Princeton looked down at the penny, which glinted innocently back up at him, as if it had not caused him this trouble. "I… well, maybe I'm…" Suddenly Princeton frowned, confused. "Hold on, how did you figure that out?"

"What do you mean?" Kate asked, taken aback by Princeton's question.

"I mean, that took you, like, two seconds to figure out."

"It's not that hard," Kate tossed her hair, turning partly away from him. "So maybe I'm good at math, so what? At least I didn't lie about my age." She made a humph noise and tossed her hair again.

"Okay, so I'm twenty-three," Princeton admitted. "So what?"

"So why did you lie to me?" Kate turned back towards him and he realized that her eyes were swimming with tears.

Oh God, he thought, stopping himself from rolling his eyes with difficulty. She must be PMS-ing or something…

"It's embarrassing," Princeton admitted, looking down at the penny again. He spoke to it as he said, "I failed kindergarten."

"What?" Kate's voice had to be an entire octave higher, which, for her, was a feat. Princeton was sure he heard glass shattering somewhere.

"I had to repeat kindergarten," he clarified, looking up at her with a defeated expression on his face. "Okay?"

"How can you fail kindergarten?" Kate's voice sounded as though she did not believe him. "Princeton, I teach kindergarten, and all they do is color and sing the alphabet all day. How does a five year old fail that?"

"I don't care to answer," Princeton shifted uncomfortably where he sat. Kate made an angry snorting noise before getting up and, with a final hair flip, exiting the room in a huff. Princeton decided not to point out that she was still in her nightgown

"Shit." He threw the penny out the window.


End file.
